Bible Study: Insights in Genesis: The Flood Part 4

When the rains unleashed and the Flood grew, the Bible reveals that they not only came from the sky, but from below the surface of the earth. Forty days were the standard biblical number set for men to wait on God. When Noah was six hundred years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month the waters were let loose.

We are left to imagine the wave of emotions that those on the vessel must have felt. Everything they had known was about to change. Everyone they knew apart from themselves, like the families of the wives of Noah’s sons, would die. All cattle, every crawling thing would all die as part of God’s judgment. And this was God’s grace, to rid of the evil on the planet.

Fascinating Flood Facts

Several things catch my attention once the waters recede and the ark lands. Just to mention, no one knows for sure where the ark landed, but many believe that Mount Ararat is in Turkey and remnants of the ark are hidden there today. Of course, over the years many explorers and expeditions have gone in search of the ark with hopes of finding a remnant.

I find it fascinating that the vessel had no rudder, no way to steer. It was sheer abandonment to God that took Noah aboard the ship. He was totally without control. It was faith alone his family possessed as they floated and were carried on the water without any control, any decisions or any knowledge about if or where they were going to land.

Genesis chapter 8 begins by informing us that God made a wind to pass over the earth to dry out the waters. Was it constantly blowing? Was it a hurricane? A tornado? Whatever the big wind was, it wasn’t until ten months later that Noah had any hopes that the earth was bearing fruit and that the inhabitants of the ark could disembark. We are even told when and where this all took place. Genesis 8:4 says, “Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.”

No Resting Place for the Dove from Noah’s Ark

Noah sends out the raven, followed by a dove, but the dove returned to him because she had no resting place. Seven days later, he sends the dove, which returns with an olive branch. She is let loose after another seven days, and does not come back. She has surely found a new home. Something to capture in the book of Genesis is that seven is regarded as the perfect number, or “complete” number. The account of the flood nails that idea, similar to the creation account.

During the 371 days on the ark, we have no mention of God guiding, consoling or conversing with Noah. We are given exact dates again regarding the day Noah removed the covering from the ark and the day the earth was dried. Then, God speaks to Noah. Noah and his family had stayed put until they were given the instruction to disembark.

Noah’s path is a sure life that exemplifies how to walk with God. He was close enough to God to hear Him. He believed God. He obeyed God. He waited on God. He moved when God gave the order. A total life of abandonment.

Watch this space for Part 5

Written by Jori Sams

Jori Sams is a Christian author and freelance writer with nearly 2000 published pieces on the Internet, with over 1500 being published by Yahoo. Her books are published through Writeious Books. When she isn’t writing, you can usually find her following the sun…